Abstract
A description is given of the present discipline of School Effectiveness and Improvement, together with a detailed description of the characteristics of effective schools. It is argued that our educational system still retains some unreliability, in spite of the use of this knowledge.
It is further argued that we should learn from the process and characteristics of Highly Reliable Organisations, who emerge in society when failure is not an option. It is also argued that present unreliability is costly, as evidenced in the volume of cascading errors such as Bhopal. We are now as strong as the weakest link in our populations both as people and in terms of materials because we are all connected together.
Enhanced professional development and focus, and a concentration upon the potential of cognitive neuroscience, are argued to be of further possible use. Education shows what can be transformative educational effects, with numerous empirical examples. Development of failure free schools makes it possible to further transform societies through their schools.
The 2013 Kneller Lecture delivered to the Comparative and International Education Society in Washington DC, February 2023.